European Factors to Watch-Equity futures drop back as Asian shares wobble

Redacción de Reuters

3 MIN. DE LECTURA

(Adds futures prices, company news items)

LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - European equity futures fell on Wednesday, with a wobble in Asian markets and a fall overnight on U.S. stock markets potentially muting the impact of a sharp rally in the previous session fuelled by a Chinese rate cut.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index had risen 4.3 percent on Tuesday after the Chinese rate cut fuelled a recovery from a bruising 48-hour sell-off caused by concerns over China's economy, following Beijing's devaluation of its currency earlier in August and a stock market slump in the country.

COMPANY NEWS:

BHP BILLITON :

BHP Billiton's investment-grade credit ratings might come under pressure in the current financial year, ratings agencies said on Wednesday, after the top global miner posted its weakest profit in a decade but still hiked dividends.

BMW :

The head of BMW's Rolls-Royce unit, Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes, told magazine Super Illu that the luxury car business would see clearly lower vehicle sales in China this year, to be partly compensated by growth in the United States and the Middle East.

KONE :

Finland's Kone, the world's second-biggest elevator maker with large exposure to the Chinese market, on Wednesday said it has not seen any immediate impact from the recent stock market turbulence on its business.

VODAFONE :

Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc has sold its U.K. spectrum rights to Vodafone Group Plc and CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd for about 200 million pounds ($313.8 million), Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

VOLKSWAGEN :

German carmaker Volkswagen's group vehicle sales fell 3.7 percent in July and were down 1 percent over the January to July period, hurt by weak markets in China, Russia and Brazil.